The Piedmont Highlander

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The Piedmont Highlander

The Piedmont Highlander

From sunny Piedmont to Antarctica

From sunny Piedmont to Antarctica

Antarctica, the great ice desert. 98 percent of it is covered with ice. This extreme climate would not necessarily seem inviting to most, however Piedmont special education teacher Sara Plowman could not be more excited to sail down to the southernmost continent on a teacher fellowship provided by Lindblad Expeditions and National Geographic.

This past year Plowman applied for the fellowship for the second time and was accepted. Generally, out of the 3,000 teachers who apply, only 35 are accepted, they are then put in groups of three and assigned a destination. Plowman was notified in mid February that she won the fellowship to Antarctica.

“The program is not necessarily about teaching but about professional development and learning,” Plowman said. “The goal of the program is to increase geographic literacy education among the students.”

Many of Plowman’s co-workers are excited both for her and for what the fellowship will bring to Piedmont, paraeducator Carole Frascati said.

“It’s about time she got it, because she really wants it and deserves it, and I believe she’ll make the most of the experience.” said paraeducator Sam Blickle.

Plowman has been working for Piedmont for the past four years and has a background in science and public health.Screen Shot 2016-04-25 at 2.25.18 PM

“For the application you had to explain how you implement geography literacy education in your classroom, also how you would use the experience if they selected you to increase that.” Plowman said.

In Antarctica, the activities vary day-to-day. There are two expeditions off the ship per day, which could consist of hikes along the continent, kayaking and possibly working with other staff like the underwater videographer and photographer.   

“I am going to try to integrate what I learn into all of my subjects,” Plowman said. “I’ll do some water analysis, temperature readings and I’m sure my plans will adjust while I am there.”

Plowman will be writing a blog while she is Antarctica, which she will have her students stay up to date on with as well as having them create their own fake blogs as an assignment. She also wants to do a literature unit, teach a history unit and possibly do a math unit around Antarctica.

Plowman is looking forward to the chance to work with the other fellows on how they will bring what they learn and interpret it in the classroom.

“I am very excited for her,” Piedmont paraeducator Carole Frascati said. “I can already tell that she is going to put it to good use in the classroom and schoolwide.”

At the end of the day everyone meets back on the ship for a debrief for both the guests and the staff by the naturalists.

“I am really excited to soak as much knowledge from the naturalists who are on board as I can,” Plowman said. “Since I have a really small program I am looking forward to working with other teachers, not only at the high school but at the elementary schools and middle school to work in a coteaching way around mini lessons.”

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